Dell board asks Icahn to show them the money

The battle for control of Dell continues to rumble on with the ball being thrown back into Carl
Icahn's court after the PC maker's board asked him to prove that he could afford to fund his latest
bid.

Icahn in conjunction with Southeastern Asset Management made an $21bn cash offer for Dell
towards the end of last week as the investor piled on the pressure on Michael Dell, who has made an
offer of $24.4bn.

Billionaire investor Icahn has been an outspoken critic of the plans
spearheaded by Michael Dell to take the company he founded private and is the only serious
opposition left after the other bid from Blackstone was dropped last month.

Having ended last week by announcing the bid Icahn then went on US television pointing out there
would be no board role for Michael Dell if his bid won and he questioned whether his opponent could
actually get his hands on the funds.

But in the latest twist that same question has been asked of Icahn by Dell's board in a letter,
with doubts being raised over just where the significant cash sum is going to come from.

"Please provide comprehensive information regarding the proposed financing for the transaction.
We need to understand the terms of the debt financing, and contingencies available if cash on hand
or stockholder rollovers are less than anticipated. We would also need to see drafts of forms of
commitment papers (and any proposed bridge facility) so that we can assess the certainty of
closing," stated the letter.

It also called for more clarification over just what the proposed structure of the firm would be
if the acquisition proved to be successful: "Please identify the persons you would expect to form
the senior management team of Dell following the transaction, and what role these persons would
play in arranging the financing for the proposed transaction. Also, please provide us with a
description of the strategy and operating plan you would expect this management team to
implement."

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